H.S. Football: Avon finishes off 10th straight SWC title, will wait for first playoff game

ELYRIA — Blake Elder got to 2,000 yards passing as Avon coasted into a playoff spot and a 10th consecutive Southwestern Conference championship Friday with its 47-7 win over Elyria. The Eagles (9-1 overall, 7-0 SWC) have won 34 straight SWC games. They'll take next weekend off with a first-ever bye before trying to defend their Division II state championship. Avon has outscored its opponents 404-108 this season. Elyria, on the other hand, suffered through its second straight winless season and has lost 23 consecutive games and 31 of 32. Elder entered the game needing just 20 yards to reach 2,000 for the season. He completed five of eight throws for 154 yards and four touchdowns in a shortened game due to a running clock that actually started in the second quarter. Elder has 26 touchdown passes and just one interception. "You've got to give credit to Elyria," said Blake, son of Mike, Avon's coach. "They came out and played the whole season. They tried their hardest out there. "As for the 2,000 thing, it's awesome and all but the season's not over and I give all the credit to my teammates and coaches because I couldn't do it by myself." Elder found Michael Colburn open on Avon's first offensive play following an Elyria turnover for a 36-yard touchdown pass. The Eagles followed that with a blocked punt by Josiah Saunders that squirted out of the end zone for a safety before Saunders could cover it. Caeden Bennett returned the ensuing free kick 78 yards to push the lead to 16-0. Elder threw his second touchdown to Fin Jerdonek for 41 yards — this one following a TD grab by Grant Barr that was nullified by a holding penalty — for a 23-0 lead with 1:30 left in the first quarter. Elyria's Christian Rogers may have given the Pioneers their biggest highlight of the season on the kickoff. Avon's Jenson Petro, who had boomed his first three kickoffs well into the end zone for touchbacks, booted this one just inside the 5-yard line and Rogers initially thought it would roll into the end zone but it didn't. He alertly picked it up at the 1, got past the initial wave of Eagles and picked up a couple of nice blocks to go 99 yards for an Elyria score. "They put it in the end zone the whole game," said Rogers. "He's a great kicker. I see it come down on the 1. I give credit to Dolan Melendez. He picked up a great block. I said, 'I got one more game of this, I'm going to pick this up and at least run it a little bit.' It was just a footrace." "They've been fighting all year," said Elyria coach Matt Wilson. "They haven't given up in any game. We're shorthanded with numbers, a lot of injuries kind of set us back, but our kids' fight is always there. At the end of the day, they're great kids. They can be proud they represented the school and I'm very proud of them." Avon finished the quarter with one more Elder touchdown pass, this one going 59 yards to Jackson Palmer. He added a fourth in the second quarter, a 10-yarder to Barr, and Petro finished the first half scoring with a 42-yard field goal as time expired. Petro later attempted a 53-yarder but it fell just short. The Eagles added a 62-yard score on a pass from sophomore Trevor Sykora to sophomore Carter Schram to finish the scoring in the third quarter. "I was saying all week long, our preparation was really, really good," Mike Elder said. "We talked about playing to our standard. We talked about as a team how much respect we have for the kids from Elyria, that they're still fighting and battling. This society, when things don't go your way, people walk away and quit. I think you have to pay major respect to every one of these kids from Elyria who stuck it out this entire season." Mike Elder will have a week off to prepare for Avon's first playoff opponent. It's a different format than the past. "I already talked to Larry Kehres (former coach at Mount Union), he's my mentor," said Elder. "I asked him what he'd do with a bye week. It's new to me. We talked a lot and I appreciate his guidance. We think we have a good plan for what we've got to do next week to make sure that we're not rusty because that's a concern two weeks from now when you're playing an opponent just coming off a Friday night game. "It's a slippery slope but we'll definitely take the rest." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.